AG candidate Cahill wants a state-level 'Len Bias Law'

What does a former University of Maryland basketball star have to do with the New York attorney general's race?

Len Bias had a legendary collegiate basketball career at Maryland, which led to him being picked second overall in the 1986 NBA draft by the Boston Celtics. But two days after he was drafted, Bias collapsed and died after using cocaine.

That led Congress to pass what became known as the "Len Bias Law," which enacted harsher drug sentences among other provisions. In particular, the law is often used by federal prosecutors to go after drug dealers when an overdose results in a death.

“Passage of a Len Bias law in New York will send a clear message to drug kingpins that we are coming after them," Cahill said in a statement. "The law would empower law enforcement and gives our District Attorney’s the tools they need to break down even the most intricate of supply chains.”

The subject of drug sentencing has long been a hot topic in state government, dating back to the Rockefeller Drug Laws of the 1970s, which were panned by critics over the years for putting first-time, nonviolent drug offenders in jail. The state Legislature and Gov. David Paterson agreed to repeal much of the Rockefeller laws' mandatory sentencing requirements in 2009 -- an effort that was led in the state Senate in large part by then-Sen. Eric Schneiderman.

Schneiderman also pushed for the passage of the state's "I-STOP" law, which set up a prescription-drug database that pharmacists must check before dispensing drugs to cut down on so-called "doctor shopping."

Cahill's plan calls for a "top to bottom review" of the 2009 drug-law rollbacks, as well as boosted penalties for heroin traffickers and a look at using forfeited drug money for in-patient drug-abuse treatment.